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Lavrov-Pompeo talks showed aspiration to restore relations — Russian Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the sides "very constructively" discussed a wide range of issues at the Sochi talks

Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. The talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US State Secretary Mike Pompeo that took place in Sochi on Tuesday have showcased the mutual striving to restore the Russia-US relations, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Rossiya-1 TV channel.

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Lavrov says he and Pompeo agreed steps to normalize Russia-US relations

"The joint press conference [after bilateral talks] also showed that there is a desire and striving to finally launch the process of restoring bilateral relations. Moscow, at least, has been saying that for a long time, but I believe that today the American side said the same in a very positive manner," Zakharova said.

According to Zakharova, the parties "very constructively" discussed a wide range of issues, while the talks themselves were all-encompassing. "I believe that the parties have heard each other," she said.

She also answered the question on whether it is possible to press the ‘reset’ button in the relations between Russia and the US again, which was symbolically done by the representatives of the two countries back in 2009. "Such a [button] which was brought by [then US Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton I hope we will never see again," she concluded.

On March 6, 2009, at a meeting in Geneva Clinton presented Lavrov with a symbolic button, which was supposed to launch a reset in the Russia-US relations. However, the button read ‘overload’ because of the American diplomats’ mistake.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign Ministry United States Bilateral relations Maria Zakharova

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